Too Many Cooks In the Kitchen
by satomobile
Summary: Lin helps Tenzin prepare and old family recipe that Pema doesn't have a taste for. Oneshot with Linzin overtones.


**This was a prompt from Linny-boo on tumblr: "Can one of my awesome writer friends write a short fic for me of Lin helping Tenzin cook a family recipe and Pema comes in and gets really uncomfortable?" So here it is! **

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Tenzin looked at the clock anxiously. He hoped she had gotten his message. Though it wasn't so much a message as a desperate plea.

On the eve of his mother's eighty-sixth birthday, Tenzin was feeling rather panicked. With only six hours to Katara's birthday dinner, it had just become abundantly clear that his lovely wife, a normally skilled cook, was completely lost when it came to cooking a traditional Watertribe meal.

Pema had gotten up early that morning and started in on making the bannock bread. Baking was well within her culinary comfort zone; the giant dead fish lying across her counter was not.

Just as Pema pulled the first pan of bannock from the oven there was a knock at the door. Tenzin made eyes with his wife, surprised to find she almost looked relieved.

"I'll get it," he announced, exiting the kitchen and making his way to the front room.

When he pulled the door open he was greeted with Lin's smug expression, "You know, you are half Watertribe, right?" she joked, right off the bat.

Tenzin smiled, he was a grateful to be back in a place like this with her, joking with one another and helping each other out- it felt almost like a limb that had been asleep tingling back to life.

"Thank you for coming, Lin. "

She shrugged, "it's for your mother."

He gave her a nod of understanding, "Shall we?" he asked, gesturing back toward the kitchen.

They entered the kitchen to find Pema settling some bread along a rack to cool. She turned to greet them, "Hello, Lin."

A tight lipped and half-hearted smile was her return.

Sensing the bit of tension Tenzin stepped in, "So, I was thinking my Mother always liked Char Stew…"

Lin nodded, scanning the kitchen quickly. Her eyes landed on the large fish resting along the counter with its mouth hanging open, "Not off to the best start, in that case."

Tenzin gave her a puzzled look- he hadn't started anything yet.

"You've got the wrong fish," Lin explained plainly, "that isn't Arctic Char."

"It's not?"

"Tenzin, it's tuna. Can you really not tell the difference?"

Tenzin's eyes bugged and then narrowed as they both moved around the counter for a closer view, "Are you sure?"

Lin looked between him and the fish a few times, "Are you joking?"

They both let out a small laugh and Lin rolled her eyes a bit with a shake of her head, "You realize there is a fishmonger right around the corner from City Hall that could have pointed out this very obvious difference if you had asked?" she teased.

"Oh," Pema interjected, "well that is probably my fault. I picked up the fish."

Her confession seemed to sap the small bit of playful energy that was beginning to build between her husband and his ex.

Lin cocked her head to the side, "That's alright. I can work with this," she decided.

Pema nodded, turning back to the oven to shut it off.

"Alright," Lin commented absently as she looked around, "I just need a filet knife…"

Lin moved around the corner and to the far wall, opening a drawer to find it full of chopsticks, "Where are the knives?"

"Oh, right here on the wall," Pema explained, pointing to where several blades hung beside her. Lin glanced at them before turning her attention back to Tenzin, "No, I mean the good knives. The filet knives…."

"They were yours," Tenzin shrugged, "you have them."

Lin laughed incredulously, "and you never replaced them?"

"What do I need meat carving knives for?" he deflected with a laugh.

"For this," Lin returned, pointing at the ground with a chuckle, "for this moment exactly!"

Tenzin went to gather a selection of the sharpest knives to present to Lin, laying them out beside the tuna for her to examine, "Can't you just use one of these?"

Lin looked from them exceptionally large fish before her and then back at the relatively tiny knives and couldn't hold back the snort of laughter that came- the absurdity of hacking her way through that beast with such a tiny utensil nearly doubled her over. Her laughter was contagious and Tenzin caught it quick, envisioning the task ahead as well.

"It should only take….what? Ten? Twenty hours?" he managed to croak between waves of laughter. Lin was shaking her head, laughing hard enough that words wouldn't come.

Finally, Lin wiped at her eyes with a sigh, "Honestly, though, Tenzin. I don't think these are going to work. Maybe for cubing the meat, but I've got to bone it. Get the head off…"

"I have a sword," Tenzin replied, lips tight to repress another fit of giggles.

"A sword?" Lin repeated with another shake of her head, "fine. Go get me a sword so I can execute this thing."

"I think he's dead already," Tenzin commented flippantly with a smile as he left the room.

The room went quiet then, the only sound coming from the dishes Pema washed and the drumming of Lin's fingernails along the wooden countertop.

Tenzin returned in short order, holding out the sword with a mocking bow of his head as a student would a master swordsman. Lin accepted the sword, unsheathing it with another sigh, amused and disbelieving.

"Alright, I'll need you to hold it still for me," Lin explained, turning the fish so that its spine faced the edge of the counter. Tenzin looked mildly put out by this demand, but complied anyway, placing his hands along the body of the tuna to hold it in place.

Quick and clean, the sword went through the back of the gills at an angle before Lin indicated to Tenzin she would like the fish rolled over. Again he complied and she made a similar cut on the other side. With a small grunt she used her hands to pull the head from the body.

"That's a lot of blood," Pema commented in a dazed whisper from the other side of the room as she watched.

"Yep," Lin agreed casually, "get me a pot, please."

Tenzin moved quickly to retrieve a large pot from beside him and hold it out. Lin dumped the head inside unceremoniously.

"Fill that with water and bring it to a boil," Lin instructed. Tenzin gave her a silent nod and moved to the sink, pumping water into the pot. Lin appeared beside him, holding her blood-covered hands slightly aloft. He took one look at them and pumped the lever one extra time to keep the water flowing after her removed the pot so that Lin may rinse her hands.

Tenzin set the pot on the stove top, giving its contents one last look of revulsion.

"What?" Lin asked, catching his expression.

"I just haven't seen this dish made in a long time," he replied, "I forgot how disturbing it was."

Lin smiled, "You're lucky. Sokka used to chase me around the house with that severed fish head when we made this."

The grin returned to Tenzin's face.

"Well," Pema piped up suddenly, "the bread is cooling now."

Lin and Tenzin both turned her way, startled, having nearly forgot she was standing in the same room.

"I'm free to help," Pema continued, "I'll just need to check on the children-"

"That's quite alright," Tenzin replied, "I think we can handle this, you go ahead."

"Are you sure?" Pema wondered. Lin glanced between the two of them. She understood that Pema was giving him the opportunity to correct himself for insinuating that he would be just fine alone with his ex, having a good laugh—Tenzin did not.

"Yes, we'll be fine."

"Okay," Pema agreed quietly, turning to go.

Tenzin turned back to Lin, drawing his breath and putting his hands together, "So. What's next?"

Lin narrowed her eyes at him, "you really have no clue, do you?"

"About what?"

Lin sighed, "Nothing… ok, next step is getting this tail off."

She grabbed the sword again, holding the blade over the edge of the fishtail before her face split into a smile, "this is ridiculous. I feel ridiculous. Sokka is probably rolling in his grave right now."

She brought the blade down with one quick motion, separating the tail from the body.

Tenzin smiled, "it's working though, isn't it?"

"It is," Lin conceded, running the blade along the underside of the belly.

Once they were past the butchering portion, the steps of making the recipe began coming back to Tenzin slowly. The pair laughed their way through the preparation mostly- usually at the expense of Tenzin's ignorance. Lin quizzed him periodically as they cooked together- asking how much of an ingredient was called for or which step came next. He managed to trip her up by recalling that the togarashi spice she insisted on was not part of the original recipe.

"Maybe not, but it makes it much more palatable!" Lin insisted stubbornly as she picked up the jar. Tenzin laughed, reaching out to stay her movement as Lin moved to add the spice.

"Do not put it in there!" He chuckled, trying in vain to grip the jar from her wiggling hand.

"Tenzin!" she yelped, "I have made this entire thing perfectly so far! This is the most important part!"

"You are the only one who likes it spicy!" Tenzin replied quickly, still wrestling with her hand, which she had managed to move behind her back. Their struggle was hindered by the fits of laughter they endured, wrestling over this small, red jar.

Their playful skirmish was halted by the clearing of a throat at the edge of the room.

Katara stood, smiling serenely at them, "It smells wonderful in here."

Lin and Tenzin both gathered themselves quickly. Faces and hands straightening out as if they had just been cracked by the whip of a warden instead of complimented by a kindly, old grandmother.

"Mother," Tenzin sighed, "I wanted to surprise you with dinner."

"It's hard to disguise the smell of Char Stew."

"Tuna, actually," Lin corrected.

Katara raised an eyebrow.

"Tenzin can't tell the difference," Lin elaborated. Katara offered another smile, moving forward.

She came to the edge of the stove and peeked into the simmering pot, "Do you mind?"

"No," Lin provided, quick to hand Katara a ladle, "please go ahead."

Gratefully, she accepted, dipping the ladle into the dark liquid and bringing it to her lips for a small taste.

"Mmm," she hummed, "this is Sokka's recipe."

Lin nodded.

"Thank you, sweetheart," Katara said with a nod, "both of you. This is a wonderful gift."

Katara smiled, turning to go she commented over her shoulder, "It could use some togarashi though."

Lin smirked, "Told you."


End file.
